The Summer of Dwight - It Ain't All About The Benjamins

Yesterday marked the start of NBA free agency. This year's biggest prize comes in the form of a 7' giant with a 13 year-old girl's mentality, Dwight Howard. The Houston Rockets were the first team to court Dwight, and they applied the full court press. The other players in the Dwight Howard Sweepstakes are the Lakers, Hawks, Warriors, and Mavericks. At this point in time and for the purpose of this article, I consider Houston and L.A. to be the front runners in the sweepstakes.

Naturally, the biggest question in all this is who can offer more money? It is commonly perceived that the Lakers can offer Howard $30 million more, based on stipulations in the new CBA. The Lakers can offer Dwight 5 years $119 mil while any other team (Houston in this case) can offer 4 years $88 mil. Those are max deals for players that have been in the league as long as Dwight (he will certainly receive max compensation). However, the extra $30 million comes in the form of that 5th year. The statement "the Lakers can offer $30 million more than the Rockets" is true, but it is foolish to assume because Dwight Howard will not be making $0 after his hypothetical contract with Houston expires. In 4 years, Dwight will be 31 years old and will most likely receive another max deal because of his immense talent and the lack of big men in today's NBA. L.A. can factually offer $30 mil more than Houston, but in reality it does not play out that literally.

Another money issue is taxes. The state of Texas has no income tax while the state of California has  a 10.3% tax on each dollar for individuals who make in excess of $1 mil per year. The table below summarizes the tax implications for Dwight's contract:

Team	Years	Total Contract	Salary/year	Income Tax/year	Salary/year After Taxes
Houston	4	$ 88,000,000	$ 22,000,000	0	$ 22,000,000
Los Angeles	5	$ 119,000,000	$ 23,800,000	$ 2,451,400	$ 21,348,600

As you can see, the government just destroys the top 1%. Dwight would be paying the state roughly $2.5 mil/year to live in L.A.,just in income taxes. On a per year basis after income tax, Howard actually makes more playing for the Rockets. In my mind, the money issue is a wash. Yes, L.A. can offer him one more guaranteed year at the max level, but Dwight will make about $2.6 mil more after tax playing 4 years in Houston compared to 4 years in Los Angeles. And even after the 4th year, I believe Dwight will still be a max level player and this sweepstakes will start all over again. Dwight Howard has got to annoy you if you are a sports fan.

After reviewing the monetary issues in the Dwight Howard Sweepstakes, I think Houston has the edge over L.A  because the Rockets offer young talent, a big-man coach that had every move in the book to mentor him, and a team where he will be the focal point. Dwight's persona makes it hard for him to mesh with Kobe and he needs to be the center of attention. Houston would provide this diva just that.

Final note: Kevin McHale was really damn good at basketball. Dwight has two post moves; McHale had at least 50.